Kakashi tried very hard not to groan as he woke. It was quite hard, he'd evidently taken a serious knock to the head and the sunlight filtering through the trees was quite painful. He tried to move and discovered to his consernation that he was tied to something and his thumbs had been quite securely laced away from the rest of his fingers - he would be hard-pressed to escape if he couldn't make any seals.
What the hell had happened? he wondered. And whose hands had he fallen into? He must have been on a mission... he could remember crouching by the Memorial Stone remembering his own team before he went to collect his... his... new... genin.... students. Oh _fuck_.
With his senses clearing, he could hear three voices faintly, obviously speaking from well outside the range of the handful of techniques available to him in such a position.
"We could take pictures of him without his mask and post them all over town."
"Keep him tied up and throw him into Anko's bedroom covered in dango!"
"Send him back to the Academy for retraining? We did beat him pretty easily and I'm sure Iruka would go along with it."
"Nah, what use is a Jounin who can't beat off three green-as-grass genin?"
"You're right - let's sell him to Hidden Cloud for the bounty."
"I hear that the summoning ritual for Manda involves human sacrifice - anyone want to be a Snake Summoner?"
There was a long silence and Kakashi tried very, very hard to hide any visible signs of fear at what these buddinng psychopaths might chose to do. On the plus side, it looked like they weren't leaning towards the Anko/dango option. On the down side, he was sure that Hidden Cloud would be only too glad to get hold of him even without the side-benefit of obtaining a Sharingan.
He heard a rustling and saw 'Nenai observing him thoughtfully.
"Ha!" the young Nara said smugly. "Called it. Not even sweating!"
Two small coins came flying towards him on parabolic arcs and the boy easily snatched them out of the air. The next moment a kunai hit the post and Kakashi felt his bonds loosen enough for him to make a start on escaping them.
He paused as a sharp edge pressed gently against his jugular vein.
"The Academy doesn't actually give classes in negotiating from a position of strength," Shikanenai said from the other end of a sword that would give new definition to the concept of death by paper-cut. His voice was calm and conversational. "How are we doing?"
Kakashi smirked behind his mask. "Not bad... for beginners," he said. Then his smirk faded as he felt the Shadow Binding settle on him again and the bonds tighten up.
"So, about this test thing... how are we doing?"
Kakashi could tell that the vein on the side of his head was throbing. It was a good thing his hitae-i disguised the reaction. "I suppose we can call this a pass," he said. "You _do_ have the bells, don't you?"
The Shadow Binding faded away and 'Nenai stepped back. "Take my word for it?"
"Sure, we're both Leaf-nin, aren't we?"
"Great," said Neshan, stepping out from behind Kakashi's field of view. "So, lunch?"
"Er... could you let me loose?" Kakashi requested as the boys turned their backs and began to walk away.
The tip of a kunai traced a line down the side of his mask, barely dimpling the skin underneath.
"After we've eaten," whispered Kirigishi Katsu and then walked after his teammates, whistling merrily and spinning the kunai in his hand.
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
What the hell had happened? he wondered. And whose hands had he fallen into? He must have been on a mission... he could remember crouching by the Memorial Stone remembering his own team before he went to collect his... his... new... genin.... students. Oh _fuck_.
With his senses clearing, he could hear three voices faintly, obviously speaking from well outside the range of the handful of techniques available to him in such a position.
"We could take pictures of him without his mask and post them all over town."
"Keep him tied up and throw him into Anko's bedroom covered in dango!"
"Send him back to the Academy for retraining? We did beat him pretty easily and I'm sure Iruka would go along with it."
"Nah, what use is a Jounin who can't beat off three green-as-grass genin?"
"You're right - let's sell him to Hidden Cloud for the bounty."
"I hear that the summoning ritual for Manda involves human sacrifice - anyone want to be a Snake Summoner?"
There was a long silence and Kakashi tried very, very hard to hide any visible signs of fear at what these buddinng psychopaths might chose to do. On the plus side, it looked like they weren't leaning towards the Anko/dango option. On the down side, he was sure that Hidden Cloud would be only too glad to get hold of him even without the side-benefit of obtaining a Sharingan.
He heard a rustling and saw 'Nenai observing him thoughtfully.
"Ha!" the young Nara said smugly. "Called it. Not even sweating!"
Two small coins came flying towards him on parabolic arcs and the boy easily snatched them out of the air. The next moment a kunai hit the post and Kakashi felt his bonds loosen enough for him to make a start on escaping them.
He paused as a sharp edge pressed gently against his jugular vein.
"The Academy doesn't actually give classes in negotiating from a position of strength," Shikanenai said from the other end of a sword that would give new definition to the concept of death by paper-cut. His voice was calm and conversational. "How are we doing?"
Kakashi smirked behind his mask. "Not bad... for beginners," he said. Then his smirk faded as he felt the Shadow Binding settle on him again and the bonds tighten up.
"So, about this test thing... how are we doing?"
Kakashi could tell that the vein on the side of his head was throbing. It was a good thing his hitae-i disguised the reaction. "I suppose we can call this a pass," he said. "You _do_ have the bells, don't you?"
The Shadow Binding faded away and 'Nenai stepped back. "Take my word for it?"
"Sure, we're both Leaf-nin, aren't we?"
"Great," said Neshan, stepping out from behind Kakashi's field of view. "So, lunch?"
"Er... could you let me loose?" Kakashi requested as the boys turned their backs and began to walk away.
The tip of a kunai traced a line down the side of his mask, barely dimpling the skin underneath.
"After we've eaten," whispered Kirigishi Katsu and then walked after his teammates, whistling merrily and spinning the kunai in his hand.
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.